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Roman Reigns
|birth_place = Pensacola, Florida |death_date = |death_place = |resides = |billed = Pensacola, Florida |trainer = FCW staff |debut = August 2010 |retired = }} Leati Joseph "Joe" Anoa'i (May 25, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and former Canadian football defensive tackle. He is signed to WWE, where he works under the ring name Roman Reigns. He is a member of the Anoa'i family, a renowned Samoan-American wrestling dynasty. Football career Anoa'i is a former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket, and was named first-team All-ACC his senior year. After going undrafted in the 2007 NFL Draft, he was signed by the Minnesota Vikings. Upon being waived by the Vikings, he was added to the Jacksonville Jaguars roster to provide depth at defensive tackle. In 2008, Anoa'i was signed by the Edmonton Eskimos and accepted a spot on the team's practice roster. Professional wrestling career World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE Florida Championship Wrestling / NXT Wrestling (2010–2012) In July 2010, Anoa'i signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was later assigned to their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). He debuted on September 9, 2010, using the ring name Roman Leakee, in a loss to Richie Steamboat in a singles match. Further losses to Idol Stevens and Wes Brisco ensued, before he gained his first win on September 21 over Fahd Rakman. He continued competing in FCW throughout the remainder of the year, wrestling mainly in tag team matches. On the January 16, 2011 episode of FCW television, Leakee was a competitor in a 30-man Grand Royal, but was eliminated. Later in 2011, Leakee formed an alliance with Donny Marlow and the pair unsuccessfully challenged Calvin Raines and Big E Langston for the Florida Tag Team Championship on July 8. In 2012, Leakee became a main eventer in singles competition, and he pinned Florida Heavyweight Champion Leo Kruger during a tag team match on the 8 episode of FCW television. On the February 5 episode of FCW television, he defeated Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins in a triple threat match to become the number one contender to the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship. He failed to win the championship when he lost to Kruger in a singles match the following week. He would later go on to win the Florida Tag Team Championship alongside Mike Dalton before dropping it to CJ Parker and Jason Jordan. Anoa'i made his NXT debut on the October 31 tapings under the name Roman Reigns by defeating CJ Parker. The Shield (2012–2014) Reigns made his main roster television debut on November 18, 2012, at the Survivor Series pay-per-view alongside Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, assaulting Ryback during the triple threat main event for the WWE Championship, allowing CM Punk to retain the title. The trio declared themselves "The Shield" and vowed to rally against "injustice". They denied working for Punk, but routinely emerged from the crowd to attack Punk's adversaries, including Ryback and WWE Tag Team Champions Team Hell No (Kane and Daniel Bryan). This led to a six-man Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, in which Reigns, Ambrose, and Rollins defeated Team Hell No and Ryback in their debut match. The Shield continued to aid Punk after TLC, attacking both Ryback and The Rock during match in January 2013. On Raw on January 28, it was revealed that Punk and his manager Paul Heyman had been paying the Shield and Brad Maddox to work for them all along. The Shield then quietly ended their association with Punk while beginning a feud with John Cena, Ryback, and Sheamus that led to a six-man tag match on February 17 at Elimination Chamber, which the Shield won. The Shield had their first Raw match the following night, where they defeated Ryback, Sheamus, and Chris Jericho. Sheamus then formed an alliance with Randy Orton and Big Show to face the Shield at WrestleMania 29, but the Shield emerged victorious in their first WrestleMania match. The following night on Raw, The Shield attempted to attack the Undertaker but were stopped by Team Hell No. This set up a six-man tag team match on the April 22 episode of Raw, which The Shield won. On the May 13 episode of Raw, The Shield's undefeated streak in televised six-man tag team matches ended in a disqualification loss in an elimination match against Cena, Kane and Bryan. On May 19 at Extreme Rules, Rollins and Reigns defeated Team Hell No in a tag team tornado match to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. Rollins and Reigns made their first televised title defense on the May 27 episode of Raw, defeating Team Hell No in a rematch. On the June 14 episode of SmackDown, the Shield's unpinned/unsubmitted streak in televised six-man tag team matches came to an end at the hands of Team Hell No and Randy Orton, when Daniel Bryan submitted Rollins. Reigns and Rollins defeated Bryan and Orton at WWE Payback to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship. Further successful title defenses followed against The Usos on July 14 during the Money in the Bank pre-show and The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O'Neil) at Night of Champions. On the September 23 episode of Raw, Reigns was pinned for the first time while on the main roster courtesy of The Usos when the Shield participated in and lost an eleven-on-three handicap elimination match. On the October 14 episode of Raw, Reigns and Rollins lost the WWE Tag Team Championship to Cody Rhodes and Goldust in a No Disqualification match, following interference from Big Show. At Hell in a Cell, Reigns and Rollins failed to regain the tag team title in a triple threat match. At Survivor Series, Reigns was the sole survivor for his team in the traditional five-on-five elimination tag team match after eliminating four opponents. After losing to Punk in a handicap match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Reigns defeated Punk in a singles match after a distraction from Ambrose on January 6, 2014, making him the only member of the Shield to have beaten Punk. At the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Reigns entered the Rumble match at #15, and set the record for most eliminations in a single Rumble with 12. He eliminated both his Shield teammates, and was the runner-up in the match after being eliminated by Batista. The next night on Raw, The Shield competed in a six-man tag team match against Daniel Bryan, Sheamus, and John Cena with all three members of the winning team qualifying to compete in the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The Shield lost the match via disqualification after The Wyatt Family interfered and attacked Cena, Bryan, and Sheamus. The Shield wanted revenge and a six-man tag for The Shield against The Wyatt Family at the Elimination Chamber pay-per view was arranged, in which The Shield lost. On the March 14 airing of SmackDown, Reigns and the other members of The Shield defied Kane backstage, and again during Kane's match with Big Show, costing Kane the win, turning all members of The Shield faces in the process. Over the next few weeks, The Shield continued exchanging assaults with Kane, who was joined by the New Age Outlaws, leading to a match between the two teams at WrestleMania XXX, which The Shield won. On the April 7 episode of Raw, The Shield officially severed ties with The Authority when Kane revealed that Triple H had coordinated the attack on them several weeks prior. As a result The Shield attacked the entire Authority, protecting new WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan. Over the next few weeks, The Shield competed were heavily outumbered in handicap matches at the order of Triple H. The Shield defeated Evolution at both Extreme Rules and Payback. The next night on Raw, Batista left Evolution, prompting Triple H to initiate "Plan B"; this involved Rollins turning on the Shield and aligning himself with Triple H. Singles Competition (2014-present) Reigns and Ambrose subsequently quietly disbanded, with Reigns using new entrance music and later, modified tactical vest. On the June 16 episode of Raw, Reigns goaded Vickie Guerrero into adding him to the battle royal to qualify for a spot for the Money in the Bank ladder match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Money in the Bank; he won by eliminating Rusev. At Money in the Bank, Reigns failed to win the title. At Battleground, Reigns participated in the fatal four-way match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, which Cena won to retain the title. The following night on Raw, Triple H had planned on announcing Randy Orton as the number one contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but Reigns attacked Orton, causing Triple H to lose faith in him and replace him in the title match. This prompted a feud between Reigns and Orton which culminated with Reigns defeating Orton at SummerSlam. On September 20, 2014, Reigns underwent emergency surgery on an incarcerated hernia. WWE subsequently stated that Reigns was expected to recover in six weeks. During his recovery period, he appeared in televised interview segments; his speech delivery was criticised as "forced" by James Caldwell of the Pro Wrestling Torch in November 2014. Reigns returned to television on the December 8 episode of Raw when WWE awarded him the 2014 "Superstar of the Year" Slammy Award. Reigns made his official return six days later at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, where he prevented Big Show from attacking John Cena during the latter's match with Seth Rollins, as well as attacking Rollins which allowed Cena to win the match. Personal life Anoa'i is the son of Sika of the Wild Samoans and the brother of Matt "Rosey" Anoa'i, who are both professional wrestlers. As a member of the Anoa'i family, he is also related to fellow professional wrestlers, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Yokozuna, Rikishi Fatu, Umaga and The Usos. At the Georgia Institute of Technology, Anoa'i studied management. Anoa'i got married in early December 2014. He has a daughter, with whom he appeared in a public service announcement in June 2014. In wrestling *'Finishing moves' **'As Roman Reigns' ***Spear ***''Moment of Silence (NXT) / Back suplex side slam (WWE) – NXT; used as a signature move in WWE **'As Leakee''' ***''Checkmate'' (Spinning bulldog) *'Signature moves' **Superman punch, with theatrics **Back elbow **Corner clothesline **Leaping clothesline **Corner high knee - FCW **Elbow drop - FCW **European uppercut **Leaping clothesline **Jawbreaker - FCW **Knee lift **Running forearm smash **Running crossbody - FCW **Palm strike **Samoan drop **Scoop powerslam **Shoulderblock **Short arm lariat **Single arm DDT **Springboard chop - FCW **Swinging gutwrench slam **Tilt-a-whirl slam **Fireman's carry dropped into a flapjack **''Drive-By'' (Running front dropkick from the floor to the head of an opponent draped over the bottom rope) *'Nicknames' **"The Muscle of The Shield" ** "The Juggernaut" ** "The Powerhouse" ** "The Big Dog" *'Tag teams and stables' **The Shield *'Entrance themes' **"Special Op" by Jim Johnston (WWE; December 16, 2012–present; Used while part of the Shield) **'"The Truth Reigns"' by Jim Johnston (June 16, 2014 – present) Championships and accomplishments *'Florida Championship Wrestling' **Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Mike Dalton *'Pro Wrestling Illustrated' **PWI Tag Team of the Year - with Seth Rollins ** PWI ranked him #'371' of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2011 *'World Wrestling Entertainment' **WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Seth Rollins ** Slammy Award for Breakout Star of the Year (2013) – with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins as The Shield ** Slammy Award for Faction of the Year (2013, 2014) – with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins as The Shield ** Slammy Award for Trending Now (Hashtag) of the Year (2013) – #BelieveInTheShield – with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins as The Shield ** Slammy Award for "What a Maneuver" of the Year (2013) – Spear ** Slammy Award for Superstar of the Year (2014) **Royal Rumble (2015) * [[Wrestling Observer Newsletter|'Wrestling Observer Newsletter']] ** Most Improved (2013) ** Tag Team of the Year (2013) - with Seth Rollins External links * WWE profile *Georgia Tech profile Category:Florida Championship Wrestling alumni Category:1985 births Category:2010 debuts Category:World Wrestling Entertainment current roster Category:WWE Tag Team Champions Category:Anoa'i family Category:Florida wrestlers Category:Former football players Category:Royal Rumble Winners Category:Living people